A Sweet Marker for Tregs

Researchers from the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) hope their study published in PNAS last month, which identifies a new sugar-based marker for functional human regulatory T cells (Tregs), will clear up confusion about human Treg function and allow the correct cells to be targeted for creating therapeutics.

While most CD4+ T cells that express the transcription factor Forkhead box P3 (FOXP3) suppress immune responses in mice, the equivalent cells in humans produce a range of responses, including both immune suppression and activation. Because of that, CD4 and FOXP3 have been of little help in distinguishing true immune-suppressing Tregs from inert or immune-activating FOXP3-positive, non-suppressive T cells in humans. In mice, by contrast, the markers have been effective in helping isolate and target the right cells...